The present invention is directed to an optical cable comprising at least one light waveguide bundle containing a plurality of light waveguides with the light waveguide bundle being arranged within an outer cladding wherein a filling compound provides a longitudinal tightness for the cable core.
A cable of this type is disclosed in German AS No. 27 28 642, and includes an interior surrounded by cable cladding with the interior being filled with a substance lightly cross-linked. The longitudinal water-tight cable obtained in this way can contain a lightly cross-linking silicone resin, a polyester resin, a thermo-plastic polyurethane rubber or an expanded or swelled polysterol in oil as a filling compound. Since the overall cable core is provided with a single filling compound, this alone is what determines the overall behavior.
It is desirable in many instances to combine a plurality of individual light waveguide leads provided with a coating to form a bundle, wherein one such bundle or a plurality of these bundles are arranged within a common cable cladding. Such a bundle can be utilized as an independent unit in the manufacturing process and also offers more favorable possibilities within the framework of the splicing events because splicing can be respectively undertaken bundle-by-bundle. Thus, for example, a plurality of bundles can be provided which, although they comprise the same color combination with respect to their individual light waveguide leads, are nonetheless to be made additionally distinguishable from one bundle to another bundle. Thus, for example, one can manage with a low number of colors for the coloring of the waveguides. The prerequisite for a good discriminability and simple manipulation within the fiber bundle, however, is that the adherence within the bundle is still adequately guaranteed. For mechanical reasons, moreover, the bundle of leads must also comprise adequate elasticity in and of itself and must nonetheless offer the possibilities within the scope of the splicing operations of being able to detach every individual light waveguide lead from the union in the bundle.